If you look at the total habitat loss for the wild turkey during the past 20 years, the numbers will astound you. In just the five-year stretch from 2006 to 2011, the Midwest lost 1.3 million acres of grasslands. It has gotten worse since then. According to NWTF studies, wild turkeys have lost a staggering 19 million acres of habitat during the past 20 years. It isn’t just loss we are dealing with. Agriculture practices are changing. In that same time period, 32 million acres of native grasslands have been converted to row crops or non-native hay and grazing species such as fescue — both a poor substitute when it comes to turkey habitat.

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If you, like many hunters, have noticed a drop in gobbler numbers on your hunting property, habitat improvement might help bring them back. Image by Jay Gao.

Habitat loss has been labeled one of the leading factors in the wild turkey decline of the past decade. Not only are we losing places for the wild turkey to live, but the remaining habitat is so fractured and damaged that remaining turkeys are having a harder time hatching and raising broods to adulthood because of increased predation. Poult-per-hen averages (the number of poults that hatch and survive per nest) have dropped by more than half, and by as much as 75% in some areas. All of this has led to a crisis of sorts. In many places, we are taking more male wild turkeys than are being produced, leading to lower harvest numbers, lower hunter satisfaction, and lower season limits.

For years, wild turkey biologists have preached about habitat improvement to provide the highest chance possible at producing adult wild turkeys. Most hunters and land managers have heard their pleas. But habitat management requires work, time, and money. Many wonder if improvements are worth the cost when it comes to producing more birds.

UNIMPROVED VERSUS IMPROVED HABITAT BY THE NUMBERS

On a recent Wild Turkey Science Podcast (episode No. 122), Dr. Will Gulsby and Dr Marcus Lashley explained what kind of return land managers can get from habitat improvement. The numbers are surprising. According to Gulsby and Lashley, a good model break down goes this way:

Gullsby and Lashley break it down like this, “First, we encourage everyone not to focus on the specific numbers that we present here but rather on the magnitude of it. Here’s the math. Let’s assume we have a starting population size of 50 hens on moderate to poor habitat that hasn’t been improved. A fairly typical average habitat nest initiation rate on that kind of land is about 80%, so we've gone from our starting population of 50 down to 40 hens that actually nest in a given spring.

The nest average clutch size is about 10 eggs, so those 40 hens will produce around 400 eggs in a given spring season. The average nest success across the board is in the mid- to upper South is in the 30% range for getting at least one of those eggs to successfully hatch.

For this exercise, we just assumed that if a nest was successful, all 10 eggs hatched, since we typically see hatching rates up in the 90% plus range. Out of our 40 nesting hens, the average nest success rate on unimproved property is about 38%, meaning somewhere around 13 of those nests will hatch and actually make a poult. Assuming an average clutch size of 10, that will produce around 130 actual poults from the 400 eggs. Survival rate of poults is about 30%, so from those 130 poults, around 39 turkeys will survive to one month.

The sex ratio of those poults is going to be about 50-50. So from those original 50 hens and 400 eggs, we only produced 20 male birds. Only about half of those will make it to two years old. So from 50 hens, we are down to 10 adult gobblers produced from the entire hatch.

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Brood production and gobbler numbers can double with habitat improvement. Image by ND700.

Now let’s look at some numbers from habitat that has been managed and improved for wild turkey nesting and brood rearing cover. These numbers come from real world data on habitat before and after management. On the improved habitat, we have those same 50 hens to start.

Our nest initiation rate will improve a little bit. We’ve seen this in several studies with an increase across the board in every area we’ve sampled. We might even be figuring on the conservative side.

In Texas, the poult survival improvements are even more extreme than what we calculated into this math. There are also Minnesota studies that show that hens in better body condition going into breeding season have considerably higher initiation rates and nest earlier, and might even see a bump in clutch size — say up to a couple of eggs — so habitat improvement where you hunt might even be more effective than what we are suggesting here.

Based on the higher nest initiation rates, we're bumping up to 45 out of the 50 nesting. Even if clutch size stays the same, that puts us at 450 eggs produced in a spring season. By providing more early successional cover across the property that is readily accessible to hens, and assuming more food resource availability, and less stress associated with procuring food resources and dodging predators in the improved habitat, studies have shown that translates into a 10% increase in nest success rate. So we are bumping up that rate to about 50%, up from 38% before. We can expect to see successful hatching go up to 23 out of those 45 nests, resulting in 230 poults compared to just 130 before. It’s important to note that I only gave nest success rate a 10% bump here, and some studies point to that being on the conservative side.

Research shows us that broods survive at a higher rate when they have access to a particular plant community structure that is herbaceous dominated with open ground at the poult level and a high concentration of forbs and insects — the exact habitat improvement we spend all our time talking about.

While we don’t know the exact rate of increased poult survival, let’s be conservative and bump that up 7% to around 40% survivability. That puts us at around 92 poults surviving to one month versus just 39 in the previous example. That means 46 male birds at one month old. Even if we didn't increase the survival rate after one month (and many studies have proven that we should because turkeys in improved habitat survive better) we’ll see at least 23 gobblers make it to two years old. That’s more than double what was produced in the unimproved habitat. What we are saying is that if you want to maximize the number of turkeys your land can produce, maximize good turkey habitat.”

BEST HABITAT IMPROVEMENT BANG FOR THE BUCK

Now that we know how important it is to improve habitat, let’s talk about just what quality habitat looks like to a turkey and how to make it on the land you manage. For nesting, the best habitat consists of low horizontal cover such as low brush, downed timber, standing briers such as blackberry, saw briers, or raspberry with canes left from the previous year for early cover, or anything else that obstructs visibility between ground level and about 2 feet above ground. To aid in preventing increased predation of hens on the nest, there should be numerous patches of this type of cover in the vicinity so hens can spread out and not be confined to a small area.

By spreading out, more hens will be able to avoid nest predators. These patches of brushy cover will be used no matter where they are located, but it’s better if nesting cover is close to good brood habitat. Studies have proven that hens who travel the shortest distance from nest cover to brood cover typically see an increase in poult survivability.

When the poults are hatched, as mentioned, they need early successional habitat with open ground so they can feed easily, but also run to nearby cover to escape predators. A poult needs good cover from above to provide protection from airborne predators and to help regulate body temperature under hot, sunny conditions. Poults also need a diet rich in seeds and insects. The prime open habitat is generally covered in annual plants, grasses, and forb species.

How to create these conditions on your hunting property? Here are some of the best returns on investment.

FIRE

According to Brett Collier, Ph.D, controlled burns are one of the best ways to produce quality turkey habitat. “Controlled burns are usually classified as either growing season (spring and summer) or dormant season (fall and winter). Dormant season fires are probably the most common,” he said. “These fires are usually lower temperature, thus easier to control. Importantly, each type of fire brings different benefits to wildlife and wild turkeys. Both fires can reduce woody understory and encourage and rejuvenate plant communities beneficial to a host of wildlife, including turkeys.”

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Controlled burns in a patchwork pattern across a property provide the most return on investment when it comes to creating quality turkey habitat. Image by Realtree.

Controlled burns create open grass and forb communities by thinning mid-story vegetation and creating open ground, which is just what the poults need to survive. When done in intervals of two and three years post-burn, this practice also creates ideal nesting habitat for hens, as the burned areas mature with low cover. Although burning is one of the most effective ways to create habitat, it’s important not to burn entire properties or even large chunks at one time.

An ideal burn schedule sees a property divided into a patchwork pattern of burned areas at intervals of one, two and three years post-fire. Doing so allows hens close access from nesting cover to nearby brood cover without having to travel long distances.

TIMBER HARVEST

Thinning less desirable trees in your woodlands will benefit turkey habitat in several ways. Taking out scrub and non-food-producing species reduces competition for more favorable mast- and fruit producing trees and shrubs. Thinning also allows more light to reach the forest floor, encouraging low-story plant growth perfect for nesting cover.

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Unwanted woody species can be thinned by disturbing the bark and applying herbicide, known as hack and squirt. Image by Bill Konway.

Thinning can be accomplished by traditional sawing and felling of existing trees, or through herbicide application, often referred to as “hack and squirt” where the bark of a chosen tree is disturbed by hatchet or machete, then an application of herbicide is applied. The herbicide is drawn into the tree through the bark opening, speeding the process of killing the tree down to its root stock but leaving the dead tree in the woods, helping provide brushy cover as it falls.

DISCING/SOIL DISTURBANCE

Much like controlled burns, soil disturbance by mechanical means (most often a tractor and disc) encourages forb and native plant growth while limiting small tree and shrub growth that choke out more desirable plants and shade the forest floor. Done regularly on a multi-year rotation, soil disturbance can provide many of the same benefits as prescribed burns without the dangers associated with burns, particularly in dry and windy conditions.

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Soil disturbance with a tractor and disc can be nearly as effective as fire at limiting small tree and shrub growth while encouraging forb and native grasses. Image by Realtree.

FESCUE ERADICATION/NATIVE GRASS RESTORATION

Millions upon millions of acres of native vegetation have been converted to fescue for cattle grazing and hay production. These fescue fields offer little to no benefit to wildlife, including the wild turkey.

Eradication of fescue through chemical means and the restoration of warm-season grasses and other native plants returns these acres to maximum production capabilities for turkey nesting and poult production. Programs such as CRP, although not as easily accessible as it was a few years ago, are still available as cost shares to help land managers convert these non-native grasses back to a more wildlife suitable habitat.

Even just one of these habitat improvements can help increase turkey numbers on your property. A combination of some or all of these steps will go a long way toward every turkey hunter’s goal of hearing more gobbles and seeing more birds on those spring mornings we all love so much.